ABSTRACT
Saffron is a kind of expensive spice and therapeutic agent. In order to establish a set of methods to evaluate the quality of saffron, High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (HPLC/MS) were used to identify the apocarotenoids extracted from saffron stigmas. TOPSIS method was applied to evaluate the qualities of saffron. The conditions of HPLC/MS and chemical fingerprints of saffron had been established. The 14 chromatographic peaks and 13 main apocarotenoids of saffron with high reproducibility, stability and specificity were confirmed. The qualities of 40 kinds of saffron from different countries and regions were ranked.
Subject(s)
Carotenoids/analysis , Crocus/chemistry , Flowers/chemistry , Chemical Fractionation , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Cyclohexenes/analysis , Glucosides/analysis , Mass Spectrometry/methods , Quality Control , Reproducibility of Results , Solvents , Spices , Terpenes/analysisABSTRACT
The distribution of years, active regions, high production authors and core journals in papers on saffron crocus was analyzed using HistCite.The main methods in research of saffron crocus were described according to its chronological chart generated by the Pajek-generated matrix with its development history revealed.
